Sophie Blackall

Sophia Blackall is an award-winning Australian author and illustrator, who discovered her passion for drawing as a teenager while using a stick on the beach. She pursued her interest in design by completing a Bachelor of Design in Sydney, which gave her the necessary skills to work on various projects including painting robotic characters for theme parks, providing hands for a DIY television show, and writing a household hints column.

In the year 2000, Blackall moved to New York with her husband and two children, after which she began her career in children's book illustration. Her first illustrated children's book, Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges, won the Ezra Jack Keats award in 2003. Since then, she has illustrated numerous books, including the Ivy and Bean series, and has received two Randolph Caldecott Medals, in 2016 for Finding Winnie and in 2019 for Hello Lighthouse. Blackall's work has been recognized for its clever details, humor, and exquisite Chinese ink-and-watercolor drawings, which convey precise emotion and exquisite detail.

Apart from her work in children's books, Blackall has also worked as an editorial illustrator for publications such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the New York City MTA. She has also collaborated with UNICEF and Save the Children as an artist and advocate for global health and literacy initiatives. Blackall is known to create preposterous birthday cakes for her children in her free time and loves to wander flea markets in a daze.